SARS-CoV-2 wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been advanced as a relevant indicator of distribution of COVID-19 in communities, supporting classical testing and tracing epidemiological approaches. An extensive sampling campaign, including ten municipal wastewater treatment plants, has been conducted in different cities of France over a 20-week period, encompassing the second peak of COVID-19 outbreak in France. A well-recognised ultrafiltration - RNA extraction - RT-qPCR protocol was used and qualified, showing 5.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDuring anaerobic digestion (AD) of protein-rich wastewater, ammonium (NH) is released by amino acid degradation. High NH concentrations disturb the AD microbiome balance, leading to process impairments. The sensitivity of the AD microbiome to NH and the inhibition threshold depend on multiple parameters, especially the previous microbial acclimation to ammonium stress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Lignocellulose is the most abundant renewable carbon resource that can be used for biofuels and commodity chemicals production. The ability of complex microbial communities present in natural environments that are specialized in biomass deconstruction can be exploited to develop lignocellulose bioconversion processes. Termites are among the most abundant insects on earth and play an important role in lignocellulose decomposition.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTermites are xylophages, being able to digest a wide variety of lignocellulosic biomass including wood with high lignin content. This ability to feed on recalcitrant plant material is the result of complex symbiotic relationships, which involve termite-specific gut microbiomes. Therefore, these represent a potential source of microorganisms for the bioconversion of lignocellulose in bioprocesses targeting the production of carboxylates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF